Quick Answer: Before you set a 2027 marketing budget, make three decisions: what marketing has to deliver (one number tied to a business goal), who owns it (a name in the marketing seat), and how you'll know it's working (two or three numbers you review every week). If you run on EOS, those decisions map to your V/TO, your Accountability Chart, your Rocks, and your Scorecard.
Why do most marketing plans fall apart by March?
Most 2027 marketing plans will get written in January. By then, the budget is already set. The Rocks are already picked. Marketing gets whatever is left over.
So the plan starts as a list of tactics that fit the money: a new website, more social, maybe a trade show. Nobody decided what those tactics were supposed to accomplish. By March, the team is busy and the CEO still can't tell what's working.
The fix isn't a better list of tactics. It's making a few decisions before the year turns over, while there's still time to fund them.
Decision 1: What does marketing have to deliver next year?
Not "more leads" or "better brand awareness." Pick one number that ties to a business goal. This is the biggest opportunity I see. In my experience, most business owners think of marketing as a set of tactics: a website refresh, a few social posts, an agency retainer. They don’t treat it as part of how the business delivers results, the way they treat sales or operations.
That’s why marketing gets measured by activity instead of outcomes, and why it so often feels like a cost instead of an investment. The shift starts here: before anyone talks about channels or budget, decide what marketing is supposed to deliver.
If the company wants to grow revenue 15%, how much of that has to come from new customers? How many qualified opportunities does sales need to get there? That's the number marketing owns.
When marketing has a clear target, every other choice gets easier: which channels to keep, which agency work to cut, and where the next dollar should go.
Ask your leadership team: If marketing did one thing well next year, what would change in the business?
Decision 2: Who owns marketing?
Every growing company has someone doing marketing. Fewer have someone owning it.
Owning marketing means one person is accountable for the number from Decision 1. They set the priorities, manage the agencies and vendors, and report on progress. That's not the CEO by default, and it's not the agency. Agencies execute. Someone with a seat at the table has to lead.
For many $10M–$50M companies, that seat sits empty or gets split three ways. That's usually where marketing stalls.
Ask your leadership team: If marketing misses its number next year, whose name is on it?
Decision 3: How will you know it's working?
Pick two or three numbers you'll look at every week, not once a quarter. Good ones sit close to revenue: qualified inquiries, conversations booked, proposals sent, or close rate.
Weekly matters. A quarterly report tells you what went wrong after it's too late to fix. A weekly number tells you while you can still change course.
Ask your leadership team: What two or three numbers would tell us, every Monday, whether marketing is on track?
How does marketing fit into EOS planning?
If your leadership team runs on EOS, you already have the tools. Marketing just needs to be in them.
• V/TO: Your 1-Year Plan should include the marketing number from Decision 1, next to revenue and profit.
• Accountability Chart: The marketing seat needs one name and clear roles. If it's empty, that's the first issue to solve.
• Rocks: Pick one or two marketing Rocks for Q1. If marketing isn't on the list, it runs on leftover time.
• Scorecard: Add the weekly numbers from Decision 3, each with an owner and a goal.
• Meeting rhythm: Marketing issues go on the Issues List and get solved in your weekly L10, like everything else.
This is the same structure I use with clients: get aligned on the goal, build the structure, and lead with accountability every 90 days.
What should you do before the year ends?
1. Put the three decisions on your next leadership meeting agenda.
2. Write down the answers, even if they're rough.
3. Set the 2027 marketing budget after the decisions, not before.
4. Pick your Q1 marketing Rocks and add marketing numbers to the Scorecard.
If you can answer all three decisions with confidence, you're ahead of most companies your size. If one of them is hard to answer, that's where to start.
Frequently asked questions
When should a company start planning next year's marketing? In October or November, before the budget and annual Rocks are set. Planning in January usually means marketing gets whatever budget is left.
How much should a $10M–$50M company spend on marketing? It depends on growth goals, industry, and how much new business has to come from marketing. Set the goal and the owner first, then size the budget to what it takes to hit the number.
Who should own marketing in a growing company? One person accountable for marketing's results. That can be an in-house leader or a fractional CMO, but not the CEO by default and not an outside agency.
How does marketing fit into EOS? The marketing goal goes in the 1-Year Plan, the marketing seat gets a name on the Accountability Chart, marketing priorities become Rocks, and key marketing numbers go on the weekly Scorecard.
What marketing numbers should a CEO review weekly? Two or three close to revenue, such as qualified inquiries, conversations booked, proposals sent, or close rate.
If one of these three decisions is hard to answer, that's the conversation to have before January.
Let's talk through your 2027 plan and what marketing needs to deliver.
